WALDPORT – A Waldport woman who drove her car off U.S. Highway 101 and into Alsea Bay just south of town Jan. 12 is scheduled to appear in Lincoln County circuit court Feb. 20 on drunken driving and reckless driving charges.
Stephanie M. Hall, 39, is out of custody on conditions that she does not consume alcohol and stay out of bars, taverns, liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries. She was released from the Lincoln County jail over the objections of the district attorney’s office, which wanted to wait until it received 2018 records from a court diversion program in Redding Calif.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in circuit court, Hall drove her Hyundai Tucson off Highway 101 about 6:30 p.m. Jan. 12. The vehicle went down the cliff and landed on the sand below, about 100 feet from the water. It was low tide at the time.
Firefighters from three local departments responded to the crash and pulled Hall out through the vehicle’s windshield opening. One lane of the highway was closed during the rescue and recovery of the vehicle.
Hall was taken to Samaritan Pacific Communities Hospital in Newport, where her blood-alcohol content was measured at .247 percent, according to the probable cause affidavit. In Oregon it is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol content of more than .08 percent.
